Terry Dagradi

Terry Dagradi received her BFA from Tyler School of Art of Temple University, majoring in studio arts and photography. Since 1988 she has worked as a photographer and designer at the Yale School of Medicine in ITS Photo & Design. She has taken hundreds of portraits, documented events and architecture, and covered editorial and medical assignments. Documenting brain surgery has been one of the highlights.

She Co-Founded the New Haven Photo Arts Collective in 1996, with a mission that people connected by a similar passion for photography can make great things happen together while supporting and encouraging the visions of individuals.

She has served as Director & Curator of the Yale Medical Group Art Place Exhibitions since 2000, transforming a busy clinic building into a vibrant public gallery space.

But it was a box of 5x7 glass plate negatives of Dr. Harvey Cushing’s brain surgery patients that she printed some 15 years ago which started a journey leading to her position as Curator of The Cushing Center at Yale School of Medicine. 10,000 of those same negatives are still patiently waiting to be digitized and discovered.

Images

Pioneering neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing’s tumor registry included detailed records of each patient, photographs of the patients, brains, and tumor samples. The collection, which had been stored in a basement room under the Harkness dormitory, is moving to a new home—the Cushing Center in the Cushing/Whitney Medical/Historical Library.

Thomas Lynch, the head of Yale Cancer Center, urged the class to value their connections to classmates, faculty, and patients.

In their new white coats, the students left Sterling Hall of Medicine to pose for a group photo on the steps of the building.

Caroline Ong smiled as she left the stage in her white coat.

Laura Wang outside Sterling Hall of Medicine after posing for a group photo.

Michael Alpert received his coat from Laura Ment.

Brooks Van Udelsman '13 with his parents, Robert Udelsman, chair and William H. Carmalt Professor of Surgery and chief of surgery at Yale-New Haven Hospital, and Nikki J. Holbrook, Ph.D., adjunct professor of medicine.

After the White Coat ceremoney, students walked outside to pose for a group photo.

Among the Medical Historical Library collection is a first printing of the first edition of The Origin of Species, published in 1859. Darwin’s ideas have held up and provide a unifying theory of evolution.

In his five years as dean, Robert Alpern has overseen an expansion of the medical school’s space, the addition of new programs and an increase in grants and contracts from the National Institutes of Health. In February, he was appointed to a second five-year term. “To take a school as good as Yale and make it better is exciting, and we’ve come a long way,” Alpern said.

The Class of 2012, shown here after donning their white coats in Harkness Auditorium, includes 51 women and 49 men.

Esther Lee donning her white coat at the annual rite of entry into medicine.

Almost half the class took time off between college and medical school for research, study, teaching or volunteer work.

Jocelyn Malkin decided to pursue psychiatry, despite barriers to women in medicine at the time. “I just thought [psychiatry] was the living end,” she said.

Class co-president Kristina Zdanys received her degree from Dean Robert Alpern.

At the White Coat Ceremony for students in the Physician Associate Program, second-year students helped first-years don the coats that symbolize their entry into clinical medicine. In turn, the first-year students placed School of Medicine pins on the coa

Michelle Smith smiled as she got help from Tamara Brining.

Jason Fleury helped Megan Dieterich don her white coat.

Amanika Kumar, a student from Stony Brook University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine, who was at Yale on a fellowship, with David G. Nathan, who delivered the Farr Lecture.

Ami Klin and Fred Volkmar (at lectern) described new techniques for studying autism at the reunion’s scientific symposium.

Former chair of surgery Ronald Merrell was honored at the Yale Surgical Society Spring Reunion. In his address, Merrell described telemedical techniques that bring medical education around the world.

Christine Walsh received the Distinguished Alumni Service Award, for her contributions to the school and the profession, from Dean Robert Alpern.

Yale-New Haven Hospital CEO Marna Borgstrom, left, and medical school Dean Robert Alpern, right, recognized the support of Joel and Joan Smilow toward the construction of a new cancer hospital, which is expected to transform the care of cancer patients.

From left, Andrew Hamilton, Richard Levin, Robert Alpern, Jordan Pober,William Sessa and Haifan Lin marked the official opening of the new research building on Amistad Street in October. The 120,000-square-foot building will house Vascular Biology and Therapeutics, Human and Translational Immunology and the Yale Stem Cell Center.

Medical students who launched a free clinic in the Fair Haven neighborhood of New Haven received an Ivy Award last spring for their efforts. From left, Maggie Samuels-Kalow, Ryan Hebert, Mallika Mendu, Christopher Janson, Sara Crager and Andrew Simpson received the award from President Richard Levin.

Among the top reasons for choosing Yale, a survey of the 100 incoming students found, were the Yale system, the school’s reputation and the quality of faculty and students.

After the ceremony students posed for a group photograph outside the Sterling Hall of Medicine.

In the 1950s William Lawrence used his skills as a dental surgeon to create moulages of the faces of department chairs, including Samuel Harvey, a former chair of surgery.

Neil Vason, accompanied by a chorus, sings “The System of Yale.”

Medical student Ryan Kaple studied atherosclerotic plaque components.

Five students who made oral presentations posed with John Forrest Jr., director of the Office of Student Research, internal medicine Chair Jack Elias and Dean Robert Alpern. Back row from left: Rajesh Rao, Forrest, Paul Kalanithi and Ranjit Bindra. Front row from left: Brent Schultz, Elias, Alpern and Bernice Ng.

Descendants of Cortlandt Van Rensselaer Creed attended the clambake with Forrester Lee and Dean Robert Alpern.

Former chair of surgery Arthur Bauer attended the Surgical Society reunion with his wife, Rosemary, their children and their children’s spouses.

As a child growing up during World War II, Dorothy Lewis wondered what happened to shape Adolf Hitler’s character. As a psychiatrist, she has studied serial killers and murderers, finding three elements that occur consistently in the most violent offenders: brain dysfunction, child abuse and psychotic thinking, particularly paranoia. The three occurring simultaneously, she believes, are a recipe for violence.

Lewis’ records include writing samples and drawings from the killers she has studied. The style of these records tells her as much as the substance—marked changes in handwriting can reveal as much as what is written.

Lewis believes that child abuse acts in several ways to turn people into violent adults. The abuse itself can cause brain damage that leads to a lack of control. Children also learn an unhealthy model of behavior. “Children do as they see,” Lewis said. And the abuse engenders rage that is almost never directed toward the abuser, but is displaced onto others.

Among the murderers and serial killers Lewis has studied are Ted Bundy, Mark David Chapman and “Beltway Sniper” John Allen Muhammad. The first murderer she evaluated was a 13-year-old schoolgirl who killed her best friend for reasons she could not explain.

Wade Brubacher, a professional auctioneer and father of first-year student Jake Brubacher, offered his services to this year’s auction.

Medical student Laura Tom enticed prospective buyers to bid on a gold and diamond necklace before the live auction.

Physician Associate students Melissa Studdard, Tamara Brining, Dan Heacock and Anthony Pazienza perused the list of available items at a reception before the live auction.

Tian Xu has found a method of making knockout mice that is faster and far less expensive than conventional technology.

In May 2003, Paul Beeson was reunited with nine of his former residents when he came to Yale for the unveiling of his portrait, which hangs in the Fitkin Amphitheater.

Haifan Lin is leading a new scientific center for faculty working on stem cell-related projects.

Health care professionals at YNHH can discuss complex issues of patient care during Schwartz Center Rounds, a national program.

When Tracy Urbano was diagnosed with endometrial cancer, she chose to preserve her fertility before undergoing a hysterectomy. She took hormones to increase her egg production and Pasquale Patrizio, head of the Yale Fertility Center, harvested 16 eggs, four of which were frozen using oocyte cryopreservation.

Veronica Bianchi, left, developed the slow cooling technique for oocyte preservation at a private fertility clinic in Bologna, Italy. She is now at Yale, working with Pasquale Patrizio, right, at the Yale Fertility Center to improve the procedure’s success rate.

A vote by New Haven’s aldermen and negotiations among the city, Yale-New Haven Hospital, community groups and a labor union have paved the way for construction of the Yale Cancer Center. Among the specialists who will work in the new clinical pavilion are (seated, from left) Lyndsay Harris (breast cancer), Gary Friedlaender (sarcoma), Frank Detterbeck (thoracic), Wasif Saif (gastrointestinal), Dennis Cooper (lymphoma/bone marrow transplant), (standing, from left) Mario Sznol (melanoma), Stephan Ariyan (melanoma), Donald Lannin (breast cancer), Francine Foss (lymphoma/bone marrow transplant) and Jack van Hoff (pediatric oncology).

Medical students, working under the tutelage of faculty preceptors, opened a free Saturday morning clinic in New Haven’s Fair Haven neighborhood. Students Erica Mintzer (left) and Susan Mathai met with a patient at the clinic in January.

Botox, known for its cosmetic uses, is now being used for clinical purposes—to treat neurological disorders, migraine headaches and other complaints.

Medical student Tamara Lazic traveled to Italy last summer for a research project with her advisor, interventional radiologist Robert White. During her stay she was reunited with her mother, who lives in Serbia, and introduced to a world of Yale connections.

The Institute of Medicine elected a record number of Yale scientists to its ranks last year. From left, Pietro De Camilli, Gerald Shulman, Joan Steitz, Kelly Brownell, Margaret Grey and Joseph Schlessinger, joined by Carolyn Slayman and Dean Robert Alpern.

Klar Yaggi found that sleep apnea doubles the risk for stroke and death and severe sleep apnea triples the risk.

In separate studies, Matthew State and Jeffrey Gruen discovered links among genetic mutations, brain development and disease.

Steven Marans draws on clinical research and his own experiences to explore the fundamental fears all people share.

At the Columbus School in New Haven’s Fair Haven neighborhood, James Comer visits a classroom where teachers, teachers’ aides and parents employ an approach to reading that is part of his School Development Program.

In a reading classroom at the Columbus School students move from one station to another as they approach stories by analyzing plot, studying vocabulary and predicting the outcome. Teachers, aides and parents work with the children in small groups.

Dean Robert Alpern, congratulated Martin Gordon on his receipt of the Peter Parker Medal as Gordon’s wife, Evelyn, looked on.

Arthur Horwich and collaborators have explained the workings of molecular folding machines known as chaperonins. His laboratory team includes (from left) Eunice Park, Wayne Fenton, Krystyna Furtak, Jörg Hinnerwisch, Horwich, George Farr and Fernando Agarraberes.

Filmmaker Gretchen Berland, an assistant professor of medicine at Yale and former producer for NOVA, thought that telling the story from her subjects’ point of view would give viewers a deeper understanding of what it means to be disabled. “When you give the camera to someone else, it shifts the power. It’s much more a process of discovery for both subject and researcher.”

No recent show has missed a mention of former Dean David Kessler, who left Yale last year. In this year’s performance, Richard Silverman, Dennis Spencer and Robert Gifford sang an ode to the departed dean, “We Lost Our Dean to San Francisco.”

Stacy Uybico, who choreographed a Tahitian dance number, is joined onstage by classmate Craig Platt.

Kendra Klang and Ahou Meydani danced through the show’s opening number, “La Vie Yale Med.” Set in Marigolds, the scene highlights various aspects of life at the medical school. Here, chorus girls show how Yale’s environment allows them to break taboos.

Living in an apartment overlooking Harkness Lawn keeps Blair connected to the school and classmates. “Friends walk by and wave for me to let them in, and I always know when impromptu snowball scrimmages are on.” Edward S. Harkness Hall turns 50 in 2005; see Archives.

Arya Mani returned to his native Iran to seek out diseases with a genetic cause.

Back at Yale, Richard Lifton’s analysis of DNA led to a section of chromosome 12.

A symposium in December at the Child Study Center brought together an international group of psychologists and psychiatrists.

Peter Fonagy, Mary Target and Yale professor Linda Mayes are the new directorial team at the Anna Freud Centre in London, which has long-standing ties to Yale’s Child Study Center.

Yale's Summer Medical Education Program helps aspiring physicians to understand what’s in store for them in medical school. Elvis Rodriguez (center) donned scrubs to observe a gastric bypass operation performed by Robert Bell (left).

Students on the midnight shift in the Yale-New Haven Hospital emergency department watched as a car accident victim was treated.

Elvis Rodriguez, Wesley Chambers and Happy Wyche were among the SMEP students at Yale last summer.

The program gives students a taste of the academic rigors of medical school.

“I guarantee by the end of those six weeks, you have fundamentally altered their view of the world,” says program co-director Forrester Lee.

Writing instructor Susan Froetschel, center, conducts mock interviews with her students so they'll be able to handle the real thing when they apply to medical school.

Heidi Frankel

Amy Friedman

Lynne Henderson Kelley

Barbara Kinder

Milissa McKee

Sanziana Roman

Ronnie Rosenthal

Julie Ann Sosa

On White Coat day members of the Class of 2007 lined up in front of the Sterling Hall of Medicine for the traditional class portrait.

This year's graduates in the Physician Associate Program chose psychiatry professor Charles Morgan as their Commencement speaker. His address also included a magic trick—tearing up a newspaper and then making it whole again.

Christine Walsh, Donald Moore and Frank Lobo were chosen at the 2003 Reunion to lead the Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine. Frank Coughlin is past president.

Joseph Schlessinger, once a captain in the Israeli army, says that the pharmacology department “should adopt creative guerrilla tactics” as it seeks a role for drug discovery efforts within the academic setting.

Cedar Street at lunch hour is a sensory delight, with cuisine from Mexico, China, Thailand, India and the Middle East available to all palates. During 40 years of research, Linda Bartoshuk has shattered myths and become one of the world's leading authorit

Nine physicians who began their residencies at Yale under the tutelage of Paul Beeson returned to the medical school in May to honor their mentor.

Leo Kim discussed his work during the poster session at Student Research Day in May.

Harold Bornstein, Andrew McGowan and Robert Donohue, from left, were honored with the Distinguished Alumni Service Award at this year’s reunion.

Has the malpractice issue hit home with doctors? Nearly 2,000 white-coated physicians rallied outside Connecticut’s Capitol building in late March, the largest such gathering ever.

Among the Hartford marchers was Yale alumna Sally Bergwerk, a Fairfield County internist who laments the contingency fee system that governs the distribution of malpractice awards. “In Connecticut,” she says, “of every dollar given as rewards in malpractice suits, only 42 cents goes to the patient.”

Dennis Spencer has been named the interim dean of the School of Medicine.

Guy Jirawuthiworavong, a third-year ophthalmology resident, examined the eyes of Michael Stallings at the Hill Health Center on a Wednesday in April. A grant from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven has allowed the center and the medical school to bring eye care to the neighborhood.

With a cell phone and a bouquet, Nimi Tuamokumo, left, and Roselia Guillen-Santana celebrated their matches.

Pamina Kim gets a hug from Katherine Gergen as they share the news of Kim’s match.

Christopher Severson and Patricia Diaz were among the first to enter the lounge to get their match letters.

Where would James Bond be without a scene in a casino? The second act of “The Spy Who Smoked Me” opened with a tap dance routine set during Casino Night.

When an urgent assignment pulled Gold Bond, played by Doug Walled, away from a tryst with Carrie Sokol, she consoled herself by singing “The Beeper Is Forever.”

The show closed with the gathering of the Class of 2005 on stage to sing “We’ve Got Yale Med/Who Could Ask for Anything More?”

Since graduating from medical school, José Patiño has served as Colombia’s minister of health, led a reform of the National University there and written a biography of Maria Callas. Now he is leading an effort to create a new medical school modeled on the Yale System.

Mario Garcia spent seven years with Doctors Witout Borders in Brazil, Bosnia, Nicaragua and Belize. A 2002 public health alumnis, Garcia helped organize the group's exhibit at Yale in October.

Rebecca Brienza shakes hands with Michael Farrell during a role-play at a workshop designed to improve physician’s interviewing skills. Robert Smith, who led the workshop, and Laura Ment look on.

A spare meal awaited some of those who attended a “banquet” that was part of the 10th annual Hunger and Homelessness Auction.

As they entered the banquet, diners were directed to meals typical of those who are “food poor,” “food insecure” or “food secure.”

For first-year student Karen Morris, the path to the human anatomy lab included careers as a cosmetologist, a secretary and then an associate’s-level nurse while she worked toward her bachelor’s degree at night.

Karen Morris gestures toward her grandson, Ronyay, after the White Jacket Ceremony last August. Sitting behind the baby is Morris’ mother, Betty Williams. Ronyay’s admirers include Dean Forrester Lee, to the left of Morris, and Dean Nancy Angoff, holding a folder.

Robert Baltimore

Orthopaedist Wayne Southwick's Taking Nourishment, on display in the current Art Place exhibit at the Yale Physicians Building, was inspired by the work of sculptor Aristide Maillol.

Berkeley professor Jodi Halpern spoke about the meaning of empathy during a program preparing medical and nursing students for their education on the hospital wards.

Gilbert Burnham (top) and Kelly Close, M.P.H. ’92 (above) spoke about disaster management in the wake of September 11 at the public health reunion program.

Former Dean Leon Rosenberg returned to the medical school in May for the dedication of a lecture hall in his name.

Ralph Hoffman has alleviated some of the symptoms of schizophrenia using magnetic stimulation that targets areas of the brain.

Nobel laureate Paul Greengard, who began his groundbreaking research in a lab at Yale, visited New Haven on Student Research Day in May.

During the poster session, Julie Jaffe described her research into the characteristics of prostate tumors.

Deputy Dean Richard Belitsky welcomes students and parents at a reception after the ceremony.

The Class of 2010 gathers in the rotunda of the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library for a group photo.

“When I arrived at Yale in 1983, people didn't think these viruses were important to cancer. At conferences the human papillomavirus was always the last talk of the meeting. Now it’s taken center stage.”
—Daniel DiMaio.

“Cervical cancer is the ideal cancer in which to demonstrate the principle of anticancer vaccines, because we know what the tumor antigens are.”
—Janet Brandsma

“It used to be a job to convince people that viruses were an important part of the cancer story. There had been a lot of research, but people just didn’t believe it. … Now people pretty much accept the idea.”
—George Miller

Medical students sported toy stethoscopes as a symbol of their calling.

The Class of 2005 chose Joycelyn Elders, who served as surgeon general under President Clinton, as its keynote speaker.

Stephanie Colegio-Eisenbarth celebrated with her husband, Oscar Colegio, who graduated from the medical school last year.

Caryn St. Clair, Cicely Williams and Danielle Guez sang and danced the show finale, “Bust Your Ass,” based on the 1990s Young M.C. hit: “This here’s a jam for all the students, tryin’ to get by, but it’s such a nuisance, get shut down cuz of your impudence. Studying a bit would show show more prudence.”

Ryan Kelly sang “Hey, Yale,” a song about the Yale System, to the tune of Outkast’s “Hey Ya.”

Michael Martinez of Überstein, a band with four medical students and one public health student, brought down the house with one original song and covers of oldies adapted to medical themes.

The five students chosen to make oral presentations—Eric Poolman, Raymond Lynch, Margo Simon, Suzanne Baron and Joshua Klein—joined John Forrest, director of student research, keynote speaker Arthur Horwich and Dean Robert Alpern before their talks.

David Ross studied the phenomenon of perfect pitch

Jenna Giltnane described her research in protein expression to Linda Bi.

Helena Hansen, who graduated from the M.D./Ph.D. program, took her daughter, Kirin, onstage as she received her diploma.

At White Coat Ceremony last August, Dean Robert Alpern greeted first-year David Gimbel.

Charisse Orme and Keri Oxley shared a laugh during the White Coat Ceremony.

An undergraduate course in bioethics has become one of the most popular classes at Yale.

Arthur Galston led a fall course on issues in bioethics that ranged from the ethics of stem cell research to the Judeo-Christian attitude toward nature.

Natasha Archer, one of the emcees from the second-year class, urged students and faculty to spend money at the Hunger and Homelessness Auction in November.

Interim Dean Dennis Spencer enjoyed his debut as an auctioneer at the annual event.

Physician and writer Atul Gawande told the graduates that to be a physician requires “a particular kind of strength.”

Darlene Gabeau was joined at Commencement by her husband, Jean Lacet, and two of her children, Srina Lacet, 3, and Asha Lacet, 4 months.

Rachel Willner described her research at Student Research Day in May.

Jenny Blair likens her Harkness apartment’s quirks to those of an old friend. The bathroom door sticks, layers of paint cover everything and her oven overheats by 100 degrees. But, she says, “these are all part of the charm of the place.”

The new Magnetic Resonance Research Center includes a 4-tesla magnet for human studies that can pinpoint functional activities in areas as narrow as 500 micrometers.

A new method for preserving oocytes requires bathing them in a protective solution, then slow-cooling them with liquid nitrogen. This procedure has more than doubled the success rate to between five and six babies per 100 eggs.

“That’s what my mind looks like,” says neurobiologist Amy Arnsten of her office blackboard, where the data, sketches, and speculations that flow from her research on the prefrontal cortex of the brain make up an ever-changing mural. Arnsten’s work has led to new treatments for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

November 30 A reception celebrating the appointment of David A. Hafler, M.D., as the inaugural Gilbert H. Glaser Professor was held at the Cushing/Whitney Medical Historical Library. Hafler, chair of neurology at the School of Medicine and chief of neurology at Yale-New Haven Hospital, is a leader in the effort to better understand the molecular basis of multiple sclerosis (see related story). The new professorship was established by friends and colleagues of Glaser, professor emeritus of neurology and chair of the Department of Neurology from 1971 to 1986. A widely recognized pioneer in the field, Glaser led Yale’s epilepsy program to become one of the foremost in the world. (From left) Hafler, Glaser, and Stephen G. Waxman, M.D., Ph.D., Bridget Marie Flaherty Professor of Neurology, Neurobiology, and Pharmacology, and chair of the Department of Neurology from 1986 to 2009.

August 25: The 99 members of the Class of 2013 set Harkness Auditorium alight with nervous excitement at this year’s WHITE COAT CEREMONY, in which new students receive physician’s jackets, formally marking their entrance into the medical profession.
Justin M. Steinberg, M.B.A., ’13 with his wife, Kimberly E. Steinberg, and daughter, Marjorie.

August 25: The 99 members of the Class of 2013 set Harkness Auditorium alight with nervous excitement at this year’s WHITE COAT CEREMONY, in which new students receive physician’s jackets, formally marking their entrance into the medical profession.
Brooks Van Udelsman ’13 with his parents, Robert Udelsman, M.D., M.B.A., M.S.B., chair and William H. Carmalt Professor of Surgery and chief of surgery at Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH), and Nikki J. Holbrook, Ph.D., adjunct professor of medicine.

August 25: The 99 members of the Class of 2013 set Harkness Auditorium alight with nervous excitement at this year’s WHITE COAT CEREMONY, in which new students receive physician’s jackets, formally marking their entrance into the medical profession.
A white coat is readied for its new owner by Thomas J. Lynch Jr., M.D., director of Yale Cancer Center and physician-in-chief at YNHH’s Smilow Cancer Hospital, who delivered this year’s keynote speech.

August 25: The 99 members of the Class of 2013 set Harkness Auditorium alight with nervous excitement at this year’s WHITE COAT CEREMONY, in which new students receive physician’s jackets, formally marking their entrance into the medical profession.
Laura Huang ’13 wears her new white coat alongside her mother, Lin-Lan Tang, M.D. (left) and sister, Stephanie Huang.

September 21: LATVIAN PRESIDENT Valdis Zatlers, M.D. (left), an orthopaedic surgeon who trained as a fellow at Yale in 1990–91, met with Dean and Ensign Professor of Medicine Robert J. Alpern, M.D., at the School of Medicine during a wide-ranging six-day trip to the United States. Zatlers spoke to Yale students in political science and international relations and to residents in orthopaedics. Zatlers received his fellowship training under the auspices of the Keggi Orthopaedic Foundation (KOF), an organization founded and led by Kistaps J. Keggi, M.D., clinical professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation. Founded in 1988, KOF has brought more than 250 health and education professionals from the former Soviet republics and Vietnam to the United States for education.

Through his work at Yale’s Child Study Center in the early 1990s, Fred Volkmar was instrumental in building an international consensus around the diagnosis of autism and related disorders. With Lisa Wiesner, he has just published a new book, A Practical Guide to Autism: What Every Parent, Family Member, and Teacher Needs to Know (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).

One child’s unexpected performance in an experiment has led autism researchers Ami Klin (left) and Warren Jones to a new understanding of the disorder.

In a study evaluating emergency heart attack care at 831 U.S. hospitals, Elizabeth Bradley (above), Harlan Krumholz, and colleagues found a significant improvement in “door-to-balloon” (D2B) times — the time period between arrival at the hospital and completion of angioplasty — following the implementation of new D2B guidelines set by the American College of Cardiology and 38 partner organizations.

With support from the Manton Foundation, Jeffrey Gruen has embarked on a new exploration of the genetics of dyslexia.

A leader of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases IBD Genetics Consortium, Judy Cho is uncovering genetic factors that raise the risk of developing Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Water collected on the roof of the research building at 10 Amistad St. is used in ultra-low-flow lavatories and dual-flush toilets.

Skilled in the surgical repair of brain aneurysms, Murat Günel is also leading genetic studies to identify those most at risk of developing these often-fatal vascular defects. Günel, co-director of the Yale Neurogenetics Program, says his work could help neurosurgeons find and repair aneurysms before hemorrhagic stroke causes disability or death.

Virginia Chapman oversees construction and renovation projects at the School of Medicine with an eye toward recycling usable materials and conserving energy.

September 13, 2008: Dramatic lighting and elegant décor transformed Yale’s historic Commons for A BLACK AND WHITE BALL, the Discovery to Cure Gala sponsored by the Gynecologic Oncology Program of Yale Cancer Center (YCC). The gala benefitted YCC’s efforts in the early detection and effective treatment of women’s reproductive cancers. The event, which drew about 300 attendees, also featured a silent auction in the President’s Room in Woolsey Hall and dancing. 1. (From left) Gala co-chairs Jacques Dickinson and Stephanie Ercegovic with Thomas J. Rutherford, Ph.D., M.D., associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences.

Actor Justin Long (left) and comedian, author and member of the Yale College of 1994 John Hodgman (right), who play “a Mac” and “a PC” in the well-known advertisements produced by Apple Computer, were the evening’s special guests. They joined (starting second from left) Rutherford; Peter E. Schwartz, M.D., the John Slade Ely Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences; and Arlene Schwartz.

November 13, 2008: Robert and Beverly Bartner paid a visit to the School of Medicine to celebrate the establishment of the BARTNER DISCOVERY SCHOLAR in the Department of Pediatrics, which provides support to a promising young scientist whose research will make an impact on clinical practice. Associate Research Scientist Julie E. Goodwin, M.D., who studies kidney disease, is the first recipient of the award. (From left) Alda Tufro, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics and section chief of pediatric nephrology; Beverly Bartner; Goodwin; Robert Bartner (seated); Margaret K. Hostetter, M.D., chair and Jean McLean Wallace Professor of Pediatrics; and Robert J. Alpern, M.D., dean and Ensign Professor of Medicine.

(Front row, from left) Gene Crayton, senior vice president of the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), Paul Tobin, president and ceo of the United Spinal Association, and Homer Townsend, PVA executive director, join (back row, from left) medical school Dean Robert Alpern, Stephen Waxman, Yale President Richard Levin, Joel Kupersmith, chief research and development officer of the Veterans Health Administration and West Haven, Conn. Mayor John Picard at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new research wing at the Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration Research.

Vinzenz Unger, Pietro De Camilli, and Adam Frost used electron microscopy to determine how proteins known as BAR domains help to bend membranes into the tubes, spheres and other curved structures that make normal cellular function possible.

Edward Zigler has been a major figure in educational policy for more than 40 years.

August 26: At the annual WHITE COAT CEREMONY, members of the School of Medicine’s newly admitted Class of 2012 donned physician’s jackets, formally marking their entrance into the medical profession.
Anant Mandawat is congratulated by Richard Belitsky, M.D. (back to camera), the Harold W. Jockers Associate Professor of Psychiatry and deputy dean for education.

August 26: At the annual WHITE COAT CEREMONY, members of the School of Medicine’s newly admitted Class of 2012 donned physician’s jackets, formally marking their entrance into the medical profession.
(From left) Oluwatosin Onibokun, Raj Chovatiya and Samrawit Goshu.

August 26: At the annual WHITE COAT CEREMONY, members of the School of Medicine’s newly admitted Class of 2012 donned physician’s jackets, formally marking their entrance into the medical profession.
Excited family members snapped pictures of the assembled class in front of Sterling Hall of Medicine.

Jack Elias (left) and Geoffrey Chupp have discovered a protein that regulates the immune response, and hence the severity of inflammation and cell damage, in asthma and other conditions.

John Binford of the medical school’s Class of 2012 enters a bid at the auction for a quilt made by first-year students.

Participants in Student Research Day filled the atrium of The Anlyan Center in May.

Bagpiper Glenn Pryor led the Commencement procession down Cedar Street to the ceremony in Amistad Park.

Anna Engberg discussed her research, on a novel dendritic cell therapy for solid tumors, with medical students Leonard Edokpolo and Oge Eze.

David Greer, the inaugural Dr. Harry M. Zimmerman and Dr. Nicholas and Viola Spinelli Associate Professor of Neurology, spoke at a celebratory reception in the Cushing/Whitney Medical Historical Library with a portrait of the late Nicholas Spinelli standing nearby. Spinelli established the chair with his sister, Viola, in honor of Zimmerman, a neuropathologist on the School of Medicine faculty during Nicholas Spinelli’s student years who later became founding director of Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Joseph Schlessinger (above) will direct the Yale Cancer Biology Institute, a major research initiative that will bring as many as 11 new principal investigators and 150 research scientists to West Campus over the next few years. Roy Herbst (below) has led several clinical trials of the latest anti-cancer compounds at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

At a September 23 reception in the medical school’s Historical Library, friends and colleagues celebrated the appointment of surgeon Kristaps Keggi (seated in front row with hand on chin) as the first Elihu Professor of Orthopaedics. Dean Robert Alpern (at podium) was on hand to congratulate Keggi, as was Keggi’s longtime colleague Gary E. Friedlaender, chair and Wayne O. Southwick Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation (seated in armchair at left).

Historian John Harley Warner has charted changes in American medicine and the shaping of doctors’ identities by studying diaries, letters, and patient records of 19th-century medical students and physicians. The late 1800s were a time of rapid change and growing uncertainty, as “rationalistic” systems that advocated therapies such as bloodletting gave way to the experimentally grounded medicine that would dominate the 20th century.

Jack Elias, chair of the Department of Medicine, is the newest president of the Association of American Physicians, an organization that has promoted the advancement of scientific medicine for more than 200 years.

At a reception in the Historical Library, President Richard Levin and Dean Robert Alpern congratulated Arthur Horwich on receiving the Lasker award for his research into protein folding.

The Distinguished Alumni Service Award was presented to Warren D. Widmann at this year’s reunion.

The Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine elected a new slate of officers and new executive board members in June. Dean Robert Alpern posed with President Christine Walsh, Vice President Susan Ryu Gaynon, Secretary Harold R. Mancusi-Ungaro Jr., and Past President Harold Bornstein.

Dean Robert Alpern said the School of Medicine has a bright future, despite what he called "the crazy things going on in Washington."

At this year’s scientific symposium Haifan Lin described the work of the Yale Stem Cell Center.

Harold Bornstein, president of the Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine, handed a stethoscope to Muhamed Hadzipasic. Each new student received a stethoscope, thanks to donations from alumni.

Friends and family gathered outside the Sterling Hall of Medicine to take pictures of the new medical class.

John Forrest and James Jamieson welcomed Caroline Aldridge into the medical profession.

In addition to leading the medical school’s ophthalmology department and caring for his many patients, James Tsai is an active researcher on topics including patient adherence to glaucoma medication regimens, the development of new diagnostic technology, and the application of molecular biology to regenerate damaged retinal nerve cells in glaucoma and other eye diseases.

Actor and Yale alumnus David Hyde Pierce of Frasier fame joined researchers Stephen Strittmatter (left) and John Krystal (right) at a Yale Club session on Alzheimer’s disease.

Allison Carey has studied the highly sensitive olfactory system of malaria-carrying Anopheles mosquitoes, work that may help prevent them from infecting humans or lure them into traps.

A team led by Ya Ha (left) has determined the structure of the enzyme FlaK, a member of a family of proteins linked to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Th new research, a technical tour de force by Ya Ha and colleagues Sangwon Lee (center), Yi Xue (seated, right), and Jian Hu (standing, right) represents the second time that the Ha laboratory has solved an important structure that had eluded other scientists.

In addition to his role as chair of the medical school’s Section of Comparative Medicine, Tamas Horvath is founding director of the Yale Program in Integrative Cell Signaling and Neurobiology of Metabolism. The new program will explore the complex interrelationships between brain function and a variety of metabolic processes throughout the body, which have implications for understanding obesity, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, and the life span.

High school senior John Solder (left), of Westport, Conn., is one of more than 100 high school students getting a taste of biomedical research at the School of Medicine this summer. Solder is working with M.D./Ph.D. student Nandakumar Narayanan (center) and postdoc Benjamin Land (right) in the laboratory of Yale neurobiologist Ralph DiLeone on experiments employing optogenetics, a cutting-edge technique in which specific brain circuits can be activated by exposure to light.

Three of Carolyn Slayman’s grandparents, and both parents, were teachers, an influence that steered her toward academics. After earning her Ph.D. in the Rockefeller University laboratory of Nobel Prize winner Edward Tatum, a postdoctoral stint at Cambridge University, and a brief tenure at Case Western University, Slayman joined the School of Medicine faculty in 1967, rising through the ranks to be the medical school’s first female department chair, and the first woman to be named a deputy dean.

Herbert and Marigrace Boyer are presented with the Peter Parker Medal by Dean Robert Alpern.

Dieter Söll (left) and Jesse Rinehart have found a way to tweak the genetic code to gain precise control over the phosphorylation of proteins. The technique will make it possible for scientists to tackle a range of previously intractable questions about normal biology and the biology of disease.

Amy Arnsten’s work on the brain’s prefrontal cortex has shed new light on the causes of cognitive decline as we age. Her recent research on working memory (our ability to keep pieces of information in mind while we execute short-term tasks) suggests that memory may be preserved or enhanced in the elderly with drugs that compensate for age-related changes in brain function.

Richard Belitsky and Michael Schwartz decided to offer iPads to all medical students in an effort to go green. The medical school was spending about $1,000 on paper copies of the medical curriculum—about the cost of an iPad.

In an article published last year, Joseph Ross and colleagues criticized the practice of “seeding trials,” which are designed not for medical or scientific purposes but to boost sales of a drug.

Richard Selzer began writing when he was a medical officer in the Army during the Korean War. “In order to keep my sanity, at the end of every day, I would write down what happened.”

Margaret “Peggy” Bia directs the medical school’s Clinical Skills Program, a key component of the curriculum that includes both classroom instruction and experience in patient care. The program emphasizes patient-centered medicine, which Bia believes is increasingly important to sustain in the rapidly changing arena of modern medical practice.

Twelve students and one faculty member from Native American tribal colleges came to Yale last summer for training in child development and mental health at the Child Study Center. Fred Volkmar (standing, second from left) and Barbara Nordhaus (not pictured) coordinate the program.

Seeing is believing: the printed curriculum materials formerly used by a single School of Medicine student in one year, held by Richard Belitsky, deputy dean for education, tower over Assistant Dean for Curriculum Michael Schwartz’s iPad tablet.

It took an unusually large team of postdocs and graduate students (including some not pictured here) in the laboratory of Nenad Sestan (standing, third from right) to complete a large-scale analysis of gene expression in the developing human brain across the lifespan.

Gary Leydon, Rick Haeseler, Janet Hafler, and Richard Belitsky lead the new Teaching and Learning Center, which opened in February. The center’s goals are to enhance students’ learning experience and recognize excellence in teaching.

First-years mug for the camera on the steps of Sterling Hall of Medicine.

(From left) The School of Medicine’s Choukri Ben Mamoun and Yoann Augagneur have joined with Sidney Altman (right) and Donna Wesolowski (second from right) to design a malaria-fighting compound that could provide the basis for effective, less toxic treatments, against which the malaria parasite would be unlikely to develop drug resistance.

Commencement speaker Ben Carson on the stage with Nancy Angoff, James Jamieson, and Forrester Lee.

Harry Briggs, who studied surgery at Yale under Gustaf Lindskog, received the Distinguished Alumni Service Award for his service to medicine and to Yale. Dean Robert Alpern and Christine Walsh joined him in a photo.

Jack Levin, who is on the faculty of the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, received the Distinguished Alumni Service Award for his service to medicine and to Yale. He posed for a photo with Dean Robert Alpern and Christine Walsh.

Robert Kerin, who began an orthopaedics practice in Milford, Conn., received the Distinguished Alumni Service Award for his service to medicine and to Yale. Dean Robert Alpern and Christine Walsh joined him for a photo.

Robert Kerin and his wife, Claire, posed with their children and grandchildren and Dean Robert Alpern.

Peter Herbert, Vivek Murthy, Jessica Herzstein, and Helen Smits described their career paths on a panel moderated by Nancy Angoff.

Matthew State discussed his research into genetic variants linked to such disorders as autism and Tourette syndrome.

Murat Günel discussed advances in sequencing technology that are helping to elucidate developmental and vascular disorders of the brain.

Dozens of friends and colleagues of Howard Spiro attended a service in his memory in the Historical Library at this year’s alumni reunion.

Dean Robert Alpern described advances in education, the clinical practice, and basic science research during his talk at reunion.

Dean Robert Alpern described advances in education, the clinical practice, and basic science research during his talk at reunion.

Seeing many patients die of organ failure as a physician-in-training and in her work as an anesthesiologist inspired Laura Niklason to make a difference. Though she was initially skeptical that artificial organs would ever be clinically practical, she went on to become a leading figure in tissue engineering, and her “off-the-shelf” arteries, decades in the making, are soon to be tested in human clinical trials.

Laura Niklason

Joan Steitz

Joan Steitz, who has made seminal contributions to RNA biology, received two top honors in September.

Henry and Joan Binder in one of the galleries of the Yale Center for British Art, where Joan Binder has served as a docent for three decades. A gift from the Binders has endowed a professorship in gastroenterology.

Gretchen Berland, a physician and award-winning documentary filmmaker, served as a mentor to medical student Michael Otremba as he made a film about the provision of medical care and human rights in Uganda.

Richard Belitsky presented Lara Rosenberg with her diploma at the Class of 2012 Commencement in May. One hundred medical students received their diplomas and heard from keynote speaker neurosurgeon Ben Carson. For more on Commencement, visit medicine.yale.edu/Commencement2012.aspx.

Michael Otremba, at work on his documentary film Twero (right), was advised by physician-filmmaker Gretchen Berland (left).

Michael Otremba, at work on his documentary film Twero.

As lauded for her advocacy for women scientists as for her own research, Joan Steitz has been a leader among women faculty at the School of Medicine and contributed to the influential National Academy of Sciences report “Beyond Bias and Barriers,” on the status of women in science and engineering. She recently won the Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science for her “stellar record of research accomplishments and ... her mentorship of women in science.”

As lauded for her advocacy for women scientists as for her own research, Joan Steitz has been a leader among women faculty at the School of Medicine and contributed to the influential National Academy of Sciences report “Beyond Bias and Barriers,” on the status of women in science and engineering. She recently won the Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science for her “stellar record of research accomplishments and ... her mentorship of women in science.”

Daniel DiMaio, Liz Scheideman, and Sara Marlatt developed an artificial protein that interferes with a receptor required for HIV transmission.

With degrees in both theology and medicine, Benjamin Doolittle offers spiritual counseling and medical care.

When the orthopaedics department launched its EMR in March 2012, it benefited from the lessons learned by other departments. Chair Gary Friedlaender discussed the system with staff.

Implementation of the systems was challenging as staff adapted to a new way of keeping records and had to create patient files by transferring paper records to computers.

Nyasha George will pursue family medicine at Thomas Jefferson University.

John Millet, shown with his wife, Abby, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Anthrolology, and son, Abe, will spend a year at Yale-New Haven Hospital before moving to University of Michigan Hospitals for a residency in diagnostic radiology.

Charles Odonkor, who matched in medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital, followed by physical medicine and rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins Hospital, savored the moment with his friend Richard Arthur, a 2012 graduate of the School of Public Health.

Soledad Jorge, Alexandra Ristow, and Lisa An celebrated their matches in psychiatry, internal medicine and obstetrics and gynecology.

Intervening in root causes may not only help patients but also reduce repeat visits and alleviate pressure on the ED’s limited resources. Chair Gail D’Onofrio is guiding the ED into relatively uncharted territory: she is turning it into a public health laboratory.

Federico Vaca studies familial or cultural conditions that lead young Hispanic men into risky behaviors that may bring them into the emergency department.

Gail D’Onofrio, chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine, is one of a growing number of EPs who want to change the way EDs do business. Patients who make frequent trips to the emergency room, say these doctors, should receive care not just for such immediate problems as asthma attacks and chest pain, but also for those problems’ root causes, like substance abuse or the lack of a medical home.

Gregory Johnson, a Health Promotion Advocates, screens patients for alcohol and drug abuse as well as for such vulnerabilities as depression and domestic violence. He fell in love with the job because of “the immediate impact that I have in someone’s life.”

A busy afternoon in the emergency department.

Crowding in the emergency department is a complex problem with many underlying causes, including a poor primary-care network; widespread hospital closures; and the use of the ED by primary-care doctors who know their patients can get tests done faster there.

Matt Meizlish (back row, far right) told the story, in her own words, of Pearl Murphy, a custodian who’s worked at Yale for 30 years. At the humanities lecture in March, Murphy (seated, far right) was joined by her daughter Tennille Murphy, granddaughter Iyana Liburd, and (back row) George Keen, and Marquis McGraw.

Under the guidance of Alita Anderson (second from left) medical students Lorenzo Sewanan, Christine Sunu, and Matt Meizlish gathered the life stories of three medical school workers and published the oral histories in a book, The Art of Caring, in March. The students read from their stories at a Humanities in Medicine lecture in the Cohen Auditorium.

Posters filled the atrium of The Anlyan Center on Student Research Day.

Ebelechukwu Odiari described her research.

Songprod Lorgunpanai explains his research to James Jamieson, director of the M.D./Ph.D. program.

Sanjay Aneja led the procession from the Sterling Hall of Medicine to Amistad Park.

Deputy Dean Richard Belitsky and Sanjay Aneja in the procession down Cedar Street.

Dean Robert Alpern at Commencement.

Commencement speaker Lisa Sanders.

Kenneth Ike waits with Susan Sansone, of the M.D./Ph.D. program, to receive his diploma.

Chineme Enyioha receives her diploma from Dean Robert Alpern.

Suzanne Forrest received her degree from her father, John Forrest, director of student research.

Amy Forrestel receives her diploma from Dean Robert Alpern.

School of Medicine CIO Daniel Barchi says his experience as a naval officer gave him the confidence to “jump into almost any role,” flexibility that has come in handy as he manages the complexities of Yale’s implementation of the $250 million Epic electronic medical record system. Barchi says the new system will provide good service for the next two or three decades.

Students described how extracurricular activities enhance their medical education, during a panel discussion moderated by Nancy Angoff.

Donald Lyman received the Distinguished Alumni Service Award at the reunion, for his service to medicine, public health, and the School of Medicine.

Elizabeth Short, of the Class of 1968, received the Distinguished Alumni Service Award at the reunion, for her service to medicine and the School of Medicine.

Michael Tom, of the Class of 1983, received the Distinguished Alumni Service Award at the reunion for his service to the School of Medicine.

Richard Belitsky, the deputy dean for education, described the ongoing curriculum rebuild at this year's reunion.

After his talk, Richard Belitsky discussed proposed changes to the medical curriculum with alumni.

Alumni in Harkness auditorium during a discussion of the curriculum rebuild.

Alumni in Harkness auditorium during a discussion of the curriculum rebuild.

Dean Robert Alpern described the School of Medicine as well positioned for the future.

More than 360 alumni and guests returned to campus for the 2013 reunion.

Alumni at Saturday lunch at Marigolds.

Members of the Class of 1998 with former Dean Gerard Burrow, Class of 1958.

More than 360 alumni and guests returned to Yale for the 2013 Reunion.

The talk coincided with the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine's June issue, which focused on psychology and psychiatry.

Ronald Duman gave a talk on stress and depression at the second colloquium sponsored by the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine.

Ronald Duman gave a talk on stress and depression at the second colloquium sponsored by the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine.

Donald Lyman was one of three alumni to receive the Distinguished Alumni Service Award.

Members of the Class of 2008 at reunion.

Members of the Class of 1993.

Librarians at the Historical Library offered a tour for children.

From left) Richard Lifton, Samir Zaidi, and Martina Brueckner are part of a team who analyzed hundreds of genomes in their quest to determine the influence of genetic mutations on congenital heart disease.

Auguste Fortin and Jing Luo are among a group of attendings and residents who formed a chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society at Yale.

Auguste Fortin and Jing Luo are among a group of attendings and residents who formed a chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society at Yale.

The 2013 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine honors James Rothman’s seminal contributions to the understanding of transportation systems within and between cells.

(From left) Mark Saltzman, Joseph Piepmeier, and Jiangbing Zhou are pioneering the use of nanoparticles to deliver drugs to treat brain cancer.

Stanley Simbonis’ support helps usher the medical school’s library into the digital era.

Starting around the turn of the 17th century, natural philosophers using the light microscope saw things where, to the naked eye, there was nothing to see. The Englishman Robert Hooke observed pockets of air within cork, which he called cells; the Dutch scientist Anton van Leeuwenhoek saw living bacteria in pond water and cells within blood and even found “wee beasties,” as he sometimes called his “cavorting” specimens, in his own semen.

Rothman told assembled journalists that vesicle trafficking is essential to many biological processes, including cell division and insulin secretion. It is also important in the nervous system, passing on messages that govern movement, perception, cognition, memory, and mood.

Dean Robert Alpern and President Peter Salovey praised Nobel laureate James Rothman’s persistence in pursuing research into vesicles that transport material between and within cells.

Harlan Krumholz

Throughout his career, Gerard Burrow maintained strong connections to the School of Medicine, even writing a history of the school.

Vivek Murthy, a medical school graduate and nominee to become the U.S. Surgeon General, urged graduates to display integrity and imagination in their careers.

Peggy Bia, longtime director of the clinical skills program, received three awards at Commencement.

Commencement speaker Vivek Murthy has been nominated to serve as U.S. Surgeon General.

Medical student Eric Brooks described his research, “Functional and structural brain differences in metop synostosis,” at Student Research Day.

Medical student Serene Chen discussed her research.

Medical student Anna Duncan at Student Research Day.

Yushane Shih did her research on tissue engineered vascular grafts.

Faculty and students who presented award-winning theses in The Anlyan Center Auditorium. Back row, from left, Nicholas Downing, John Forrest, Robert Alpern, James Rothman, Brooks Udelsman. Front row, from left, Stephanie Meller, Asiri Ediriwickrema, Jessica Berger, and Nicole McNeer.

The crowd of faculty, students, and alumni laughed along with Bia at the students' impersonations.

Jessi Gold, Jessica Berger, Alice Lu, and Sam Sondalle dressed up as Peggy Bia, center, at a reception in her honor.

Nancy Angoff and Peggy Bia have worked together for years on educational programs for medical students.

Longtime friend and colleague Bob Gifford joined Bia at the reception in her honor.

Jessi Gold, Jessica Berger, Alice Lu, and Sam Sondalle dressed up as Peggy Bia, center, at a reception in her honor.

Among Harlan Krumholz’s diverse research projects is a study to identify the factors underlying the health and survival of young women, aged 30 to 55, who suffer from heart attacks, and how the patients’ gender may influence those factors, symptoms, and quality of care.

Richard Sackler (center) is joined by Dean Robert Alpern (left) and Thomas Lynch (right), the Richard Sackler and Jonathan Sackler Professor of Medicine and director of Yale Cancer Center.

A member of the Class of 2018 dons her white coat with the help of John Forrest.

“You are on the brink of living the richest life possible,” keynote speaker Thomas Duffy told the incoming class.

Dean Robert Alpern assured the students that they will live up to the greatness of graduates of the medical school who came before them.

At the close of the ceremony, students applaud.

A member of the Class of 2018 dons her white coat with the help of John Forrest.

Colleen Kelly Alexander bounced back from a devastating accident.

Colleen Kelly Alexander bounced back from a devastating accident.

We covered Colleen’s start on the road to recovery about a year after the accident.
Visit yalemedicine.yale.edu/longroad to read that story.

Citizen Canine: Our Evolving Relationship with Cats and Dogs

Citizen Canine: Our Evolving Relationship with Cats and Dogs

Jorge Galán //
Microbiologist //
“If you don’t have stamina and resilience as a graduate student, you’re not going to graduate, because most experiments do not work. That’s a dirty little secret. Yes, you can learn through the do-not-work part, but the reality is that it’s not that you do a couple of experiments, figure 1, a couple of experiments, figure 2. … Most of the time, things don’t work, so science is all about resilience. If you don’t have that in you, you just couldn’t be a good scientist.”

Anjelica Gonzalez //
Biomedical Engineer //
“There was a person whom I admired scientifically who told me that I had a poor work ethic and should get out of the field. … Every step of the way I’ve worked very hard, and to tell me that that’s the reason I would fail was demoralizing. I didn’t go to class for two days. … then I thought that if I don’t go, then I’m proving to him that I won’t work. I think that was the hardest time, for me to get up and go to school and go to lab.“Three weeks ago a colleague was at Baylor University for a seminar and this guy was saying how I’m doing great work. … and it was him!”

Peter Jokl //
Sports Physician //
“I went to Yale, was on the track team. I was pretty good; I certainly wasn’t the best. You get injuries and you try to maintain a positive outlook, and during an injury you try to find ways that you can maintain your athletic competence while healing. If someone injures an arm or a leg, I’ll tell them they’ve got three other extremities and their heart and lungs work so you can do other things.”

Rick Lifton //
Geneticist //
“Resilience is perseverance in the face of adversity. … When I was starting my career, my first NIH application received a score that is no longer obtainable because of the way we triage grants now. On a scale of 1 to 5, my application got a score of 5, which meant that if there were an infinite amount of money and nobody else was applying, my grant should not be considered for funding.”

Ruslan Medzhitov //
Immunobiologist //
“Because I was growing up in communist Russia, there were all sorts of perturbations on the way to attempting to perform studies and science. I was in graduate school during the economic crisis when the country was breaking apart, when the economy was destroyed, transitioning from a communist economy to a market economy when resources were nonexistent for science. During that period it was almost impossible to perform any kind of science. Even literature was not available to read.“You have to be resilient in that environment in order to maintain interest in science and not go into business or something else.”

Pranay Sinha //
First-Year Resident //
“When I’ve made mistakes, I’ve had to sit down and remind myself that this happens to everybody, and crying about it right now or letting it affect the rest of my day isn’t going to make things any better. So the only way I can deal with this is to keep moving and pay more attention to what I’m doing. And this is part of the greatness of medicine. It forces you to become this stronger person who takes his work very seriously but doesn’t take himself that seriously.”

Steve Southwick //
Psychiatrist //
“There is no one accepted definition of resilience, but I think most of us would think of it as a bending, but not breaking, and bouncing back in response to adversity—sometimes even growing. I think that another way to think about it is how adaptable we are and how flexible we are during difficult times, how we adjust.”

Chris Zirker //
Medical Student //
“I’m a C6 tetraplegic. I broke my neck snowboarding when I was 20 years old. I had to relearn how to walk. I had to relearn how to eat. … I’m able to walk. I’m able to touch type. My hands are relatively functional but I don’t think I’ll do anything like surgery or things where I need fine motor skills and dexterity. I think I’m going to be a lot more focused on more intellectual fields where you talk to patients and interact with them more that way.”

W. Mark Saltzman, founding chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, is Yale’s newest member of the Institute of Medicine.

Panteleimon Rompolas (left) is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Valentina Greco (right).

Panteleimon Rompolas (left) is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Valentina Greco (right).

W. Mark Saltzman, founding chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, is Yale’s newest member of the Institute of Medicine.